I've always thought the opposite... I thought there was more looners in the states than in the UK. I guess the grass always looks greener on the other side (of the pond).

Germany appears to be a hotspot for it - if you look through ebay.de the majority of balloons and inflatables for sale are fully inflated if not over inflated in the photos... it just appears to be the German way. Maybe they're all looners and haven't realised it yet.

Have to keep in mind that the US alone has more than 300 million people :P

Given I'm originally from the U.K. but now have lived in the U.S. for almost 15 years, I'm not sure who's tally I should be added to!

I'm in general agreement with what folks have said that people in Western Europe - Germany and the continent even more so than the U.K. - are more inclined to be open about their fetishes and are less likely to be judged.

There are huge regional differences in the US, so there is not one answer - but I think in general fetishes are a bit more taboo. Still, the population means there must be lots of US looners "below the surface".

I have only ever met one other looner in person, and he was American, but I didn't really try to meet other looners until I came here.

palloncino90 - keep your spirits up! I'm not sure Italy is the worst place in the world to be a loner. Other countries come to mind. Besides, Italy is home to those awesome Cattex balloons and beautiful Italian women to play with them!